Gov. Deval Patrick, who was first briefed on a long-running EBT-abuse investigation only hours before last weeks raids, defended the taxpayer-funded program again yesterday.

Questioned about whether last weeks 53 arrests had changed his view of the programs problems, Patrick responded: This is a really important program. I think most people know that it provides modest benefits that help people with their housing, their employment, their education needs and obviously when thats abused, thats concerning to me, as it is to anyone else.

In recent weeks, Patrick had dismissed the Heralds coverage of the welfare card issue as the Herald ... making sure youre angry, saying hes not going to make policy based on anecdote.

Patrick told the Herald yesterday that he was not previously aware of the ongoing investigations into welfare abuse by Boston and state police, as well as federal agents. Patrick was headed to Los Angeles for a President Obama fundraiser Thursday when the raids took place, and his administration was not represented at press conferences by police, prosecutors and the state auditors office.

>>BEVERLY  A Lowell man arrested Friday with nearly a half-pound of heroin was also carrying an EBT card belonging to a known drug user  a card that may have been collateral for a drug debt, police and prosecutors believe.
Campeo A. Diaz-Carela, 43, is facing a minimum mandatory 15 years in prison if found guilty of trafficking heroin over 200 grams, the charge he was arraigned on yesterday in Salem District Court.

>>Diaz-Carela was also arraigned on charges of giving police a false name, after initially producing identification that showed him as Abisay Montanez, 36. Among the documents Diaz-Carela was carrying were a MassHealth card, a Pennsylvania identification card and a learner’s permit, all bearing the name Montanez.
But police also found an electronic benefits transfer card that belongs to a Beverly resident known to police as a regular heroin user, prosecutor Patrick Collins told a Salem District Court judge.
Collins said EBT cards, which have come under scrutiny recently over their misuse, are now being handed over to dealers by addicts.
It wasn’t until Diaz-Carela’s fingerprints were submitted to an FBI database that he was identified  and discovered to be wanted by immigration officials, as well, having entered the country illegally through Arizona in 2010, Collins said.
(snip)

...Police found a package wrapped in foil, about 7 inches by 5 inches, that was filled with chunks of brown matter believed to be 220 grams (7.8 ounces) of heroin, worth about $30,000.

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